It depends on the diagnosis. Some mental illness is situational and can be overcome - for example, grief resulting in an episode of major depression or trauma resulting in PTSD. Other mental illness is more biologically based, for example bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I have bipolar disorder and consider it a chronic physical disease which I must manage and treat with medication, supportive psychotherapy as needed, healthy lifestyle choices, and family support. The choices I make daily affect my mental health and stability. I am easily triggered into a mood swing.

Do you think the lives of people with mental illness can be substantially improved with sufficient resources over time? If so, what would that improvement require? If not, why not?

Do you think the current boom of research into the brain will result in better treatments for psychiatric disorders? Why or why not?

I hope so. I believe in advancing medical knowledge. There is a growing body of research indicating a brain/gut connection, as well. Our physical and psychiatric health is intertwined.

Have you heard of the recovery movement? If so, what do you know about it?

Yes. I have participated in NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Peer to Peer course which promotes a recovery model. Recovery does not mean cure, nor does it mean that those of us who live with serious mental illness experience linear positive improvement in symptoms or functioning. Recovery can be cyclical. We can and do experience setbacks. The key is that there is hope.

Do you think there is a need for more public attention to mental illness? If not, why not? If so, what do you think still needs to be addressed?

Yes, especially for those most sick. Although I do like challenging people's assumptions and biases regarding mental illness, the fact remains that those of us who are sickest - those of us whose illness results in poverty, joblessness, homelessness or incarceration - are at greatest risk. Unlike the most needy populations, I have family support and a higher level of functioning. Still, if I wasn't married, my life circumstances would be far different. I would be living on disability income only, which would put me and my son at or near the poverty level. Those of us whose mental illness results in poverty, homelessness, and incarceration need the most resources. That is where we should be spending our money. Incarcerating people with mental illness is extremely expensive, and not the proper way to treat mental illness. If we spent money preventing the most costly effects of mental illness, we would be addressing the greatest needs.

It isn’t a purely physical disease but it has or can have very real physical manifestations. Just read my post today. My PTSD causes very real physical affects when it’s triggered. It can also negatively affect the overall health of the patient with serious medical issues related to health. Lack of sleep, heart problems, low energy and the list goes on and on.

I didn’t mean to say that PTSD or major depression caused by loss do not have physical or physiological manifestations. The mind and the body are interconnected. I was speaking to primary cause. Life experience complicates everything, for we are influenced by mind, body, soul, & environment. Thank you for pointing out and posting about the very real physical effects of PTSD and depression.